finding the good in the bad
by artemis14
Summary: AU when something traumatises Kagome and Inuyasha, they run away from home, but though they may be broken, they may be able to find love in one another inukag
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but my birthday is this April! Oh, never mind.  
(A/N) O.k., the fact is that it is really late at night and I just had this amazing inspiration for no real reason. I'm sitting in my room reading fanfics when it just hits me that I really want to start this fanfic, because if I don't then it will never be written. This is only my second fic but I'm sure that it will not be my last. This is going to be an AU fic about Inuyasha and Kagome, though my last fic was about Sango and Miroku. That one was a one shot but this one is definitely going to be a multi chapter fic, though it is really hard for me to extend a story because there is this mechanism in my brain says do it all in one night. Must be all that procrastination on school projects.  
I'm sure that most do not care about my personal life, so if that is the fact than skip this paragraph and just read the story. Anyway, just this year I switched to a new school, which just happens to be a private school, and everyone there have known each other for most of their lives and so my two friends, yes, I mean two, it is most certainly not a typo, are also both new to the school. The only problem with that is that they went to the same school last year. And it just accurrs to me that I just formed a little paradox of my own there. Is it possible that I am doomed to live with this all my life? Is it a curse? Anyway, my love life is still lacking and I don't expect it to improve any time soon. That cute boy at my fencing place will never think of me the way that I think about him. Sigh...  
  
Even when everything is turning out wrong,   
Something might come out right  
  
chapter 1: only gets worse  
  
In a that was not too small, but not too big either, two people who were fated to be together wandered through their simple lives without a care in the world, not knowing that soon, something would change their lives forever. It could bring them closer together, or pull them apart far enough so that they would never see each other again. This decision completely relied on them...  
A young girl of about the age of 17 bounced out the door of a tall and elegant house and ran down the steps toward a Limo waiting at the bottom of the steps. As she skipped down the steps, you could see her long, raven hair blow in the breeze, so soft and light that it flowed like water. She wore a simple green school uniform that was common all over Japan, but she unconsciously made it look as beautiful and elegant as a ball gown.   
Her name was Kagome, and though she was the most popular student in her school, she treated every one as if they were a personal friend, thought her friends hoarded her and kept her from those who could tarnish her popularity. Her family was very rich, seeing as her father was a great business man and was the owner of an overseas trade company.  
She jumped into the luxurious car and settled herself into the back seat, setting her school bag beside her. She wore the sweetest of smiles, full of innocence. Though she was old enough to drive, her father was very protective of his cars, not to mention his daughter, and insisted that the family driver take her to school every morning and back.  
"Miss Higurashi, you are looking happy today as usual, I don't know how you can be so lively on a Monday though." Said the driver  
"I love every day equally, and I especially like going to school with my friends, the homework isn't that bad after all!" she said with the most beautiful smile that was possible on the known Earth.  
"If only every person on this Earth was as pure hearted as you, there would be no war and the world would be perfect. But one can only wish." The driver said with a sigh. Kagome gave a confused look as they drove from the front steps.  
Meanwhile on the other side of town...  
"INUYASHA get your LAZY ASS out of bed NOW!!!!" screamed an angry and rough voice from a downstairs room in a fairly decent sized house on the corner of a once peaceful neighborhood. It was assured that everything was now awake on the planet called Earth, even those who were deaf felt the violent percussion of the voice. All things that is, except the one called Inuyasha. The teenager slept soundly through what could have been an earthquake for all he cared.  
In another half an hour, the 17 year old roused from his death-like sleep for no apparent reason. He first opened one deep violet eye, and seeing that the room was dark, opened the other eye. He turned on his back in a slow motion, and thinking that it was still early in the morning, he turned to face his alarm clock. He started to close his eyes when something registered in his brain and he leaped out of his bed. It was already 7:30 and school started at 8:00, not to mention that he had a half an hour drive ahead of him.  
"Crap!" yelled the overwhelmed teenager as he ran around his room trying to find some clothes that were not on the half of the spectrum labeled 'soiled beyond recognition', but had to settle for some in the middle of the spectrum. He grabbed them and ran down the stairs trying to put them on. With his shirt already on, though it was backwards it was good enough for him, he attempted to pull on his pants, which ended up being a very bad idea considering he was also trying to go down the stairs. He tripped himself on the next step and tumbled down the stairs landing square on his face. After a few seconds of recovering, he sat up and pulled the thick black hair from his eyes to look at the person approaching.   
Above him stood an elegant man wearing white cloths, his eyes were a deep shade of gold and his hair was a shinny silver that made him look more god-like than human. A small smirk appeared on his face, "You do know that this would not be nearly as amusing if you didn't do this every day, now don't you dear brother."  
"Shut up, Fluffy!" said Inuyasha in reply. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes in pure disgust of the name and stuck his nose in the air as he walked away.  
Inuyasha pulled his pants on fully and ran out the door. He jumped into his little run down Honda that must have been an artifact by now, and drove out of his neighborhood at Mach I.  
Kagome's driver pulled up to the stop sign, and seeing as the street was clear, he turned onto the street only to almost be rear-ended by an extremely old Honda. The Honda swerved into the oncoming lane, but seemed to be unaffected considering he merely pulled in front of them and continued at great speed until he was out of sight.  
"Crazy teenagers. That is why you don't drive out here alone."  
Kagome settled into her seat in her science class, she really hoped that for some reason the teacher had become miraculously pregnant over the two day weekend and would give them a study hall because she could no longer come in to teach. But her hopes were diminished as soon as the teacher walked in looking as grumpy as usual. She walked to the front of the class and spoke in her crackled, shrill voice.  
"Today we are going to start our final project. You will all be working in pairs." Everyone in the class started to mumble about whom they would be with and so on "BUT! I will be choosing your partners for you." Every one in the classroom started to voice their disapproval to the teacher but she left no room for it as she started to read names off.  
"Kouga and Ayame...Shippou and Sakura...Kanna and Kagura...Sango and Miroku...Kagome and Inuyasha...Hojou and Yuri. I think that is all. Any questions? Good." The teacher left no room for complaint as she walked around the room and handed out the paper about the project.  
Inuyasha sat at his little corner seat thinking that he would have liked to just do the project with Miroku, but unfortunately he ended up with some annoying popular girl who would inevitably do the entire project and take all the credit. His grade was already suffering from small incidents which the teacher always blamed him for, despite the fact that they were purely natural. For example, the teacher never told them what happened when one mixed an acid with a base, and for this mistake that was purely hers he had to replace all the windows that were shattered and pay for the costly clean up crew. He was so far into his thoughts that he did not notice a certain girl walk up to him.  
  
As Kagome approached she herd the restless teenage boy mumble something about a waste of money and clearly herd him say, 'deadly chemicals my ass, it only burned through the wood.' Looking slightly nervous now, Kagome kneeled down in front of his desk to look at him at eye level. He seemed not to notice though.  
"Um, excuse me, but we are working on this project together, if I'm not mistaken." Said Kagome  
"Well as far as I know I am the only kid named Inuyasha in this whole school." Inuyasha said in a coy voice.  
"Well I suppose that you are right." Kagome said, being rather offended by his tone.  
"Keh" was his only response.  
"Any way, since this project is due on Thursday, it looks like we are going to have to work on it after school. So maybe you could meet me at my house." She handed him a slip of paper with her address on it and directions to her house. She smiled, waved and walked out the door seeing as the class was over. Inuyasha sat there looking thoroughly lost. He had never met her personally, only her friends, whom as a total treated him like her was a foul blob of sewage that just happened to gain enough intelligence to walk and talk. Kagome was different than them in most ways, despite the fact that she was popular, and he was...well, not, she treated him with all the respect she had. Sango was the only other one that was not bad, though got annoyed easily and was a tad bit on the violent side. He didn't get why Miroku liked her so much. Maybe this project would not be so bad after all.  
  
At lunch, Kagome sat across from her best friend Sango, talking about homework, evil teachers as they seemed to be, but mostly about the project that was assigned to them in science class.  
"I can't believe that of all the partners I had to get I had to get Miroku." Sango said with displeasure. "He may seem all cute and innocent at first, but as soon as you let your guard down, his hand has mysteriously crept to rest on your ass. Not to mention that perverted little grin he gets some time when he looks at you. I bet that his mind rivals any porno film that could possibly exist. Anything close to that is illegal to put on film." She said in a huff.  
"You know that he only gets that grin when he looks at you. He also only gropes you, I think that the more you beat him up, the more he will do it. He is just that kind of guy." Replied Kagome. Sango's cheeks turned a dark shade of red at the comment and turned away.  
  
Inuyasha and Miroku walked out of the lunch line with whatever it was that they served them. It looked like hot dogs that were wrapped in taco shells with baked beans on top. Miroku looked helplessly at the taco hot dog and glanced at Inuyasha.  
"Maybe we should consider the vegetarian option, not that it looked any more edible than this...um...thing that they call food." Said Miroku, probing the hot dog with his finger.  
"I'm sure it isn't that bad if you just eat it without looking at it." Inuyasha stated, but was proven wrong when he saw some kid move to throw it away, but it escaped and started bouncing of the floor. Three feet...two feet...one foot...then it slid out of control, leaving a greasy trail on the floor before being stopped by some helpless kid as he tripped over it. Miroku and Inuyasha looked horrified and tipped the food into the garbage can. As they headed for a table, the paramedics carried the boy away on a gurney.  
Miroku led them toward a table and pointed out the two girls sitting there.  
"The one on the right is Sango and the one on the left is Kagome. I herd that you're doing your project with her. You are one lucky dog(A/N inside joke *giggle*), she is hot, but too bad because I have Sango, and she beats Kagome by a long shot. Not to mention she has a nice ass." Miroku said the last part with a sly grin on his face.  
"Whatever." Replied Inuyasha, quite used to Miroku's behavior.  
Miroku sat next to Sango, and Inuyasha, seeing no other place to sit, sat on the opposite side, right next to Kagome. She looked slightly surprised, but put on a shy smile. Inuyasha saw the reaction and said, "If you think that I'm that repulsive, then I'll just sit at another table." Kagome felt terrible as he started to get up, considering she did not mean it in that way.  
"No, please don't go." She said as she grabbed the sleeve of his school uniform. As he settled down, without letting go of his sleeve, she pulled his closer to her and whispered very quietly in his ear, "I don't have anyone to talk to when Miroku comes over, Sango is much more interested in talking to him." She then pulled away, letting loose a little giggle. Inuyasha shivered a little from her being so close and blushed. Then he thought to himself, why am I blushing, it's not like I like her or anything, she's only a little bit cute. No way, I am not thinking about this. Must disconnect brain...must disconnect brain...  
A scream from across the table pulled him out of his thoughts. "Hentai!!!!" yelled Sango, pulling an extremely large boomerang from 'secret weapon land.' Everyone looked confused except for Miroku whom was unconscious on the ground with a bump on his head the size of a watermelon. His hand slowly slid off of her butt. Miroku had clearly forgotten every girl had access to this world, and Sango had a year round pass.  
Miroku recovered quickly, being used to Sango's beatings. He sat up and cleared his throat as if nothing had happened, though he kept his hands to himself this time. "Sango, would you like to go for coffee after school?"  
"If you could work out that major character flaw of yours in three hours, I would be glad to." Sango said in a peeved voice, making it clear that the answer was no.  
  
After school, Inuyasha was standing at his locker when Kagome came up to him and smiled. "I hope that you haven't forgotten that you are coming over! I'm going to go home in my car because my dad would never approve of someone other than my driver taking me home. He is so paranoid." She smiled again and ran out of the school building with her books in her small black school bag.   
Her hair flowed perfectly behind her, just like it did that morning. He didn't care what Miroku thought, but to him she seemed almost goddess like and could rival any beauty put in front of her. Her school uniform was slightly shorter than most it seemed, but it didn't give her a trashy look like it would most people, but it showed that she was a free spirit.  
He was soon pulled from his thoughts as he felt someone pull on his hair rather hard. He didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. It was Kouga, probably one of the most annoying human beings that existed on Earth, not to mention that he really had the hots for Kagome. Though she didn't know it, behind her back, Kouga had been rather possessive of her, calling her his woman and so on, despite the fact that he had not gone on one date with her. No one would challenge him for what he did because he was known to get into fights, and always won them. Inuyasha probably would have challenged him, but didn't want anyone to think he was doing it for Kagome. Before today, he had hardly talked to her, much less gone to her house, and would rather to stay out of the way of the whole girls and popularity business.  
"Hey dog boy, you seen to be awfully familiar with my woman don't you? I would back off if I were you, if you don't want to be hurt." Said Kouga in a proud voice.  
"Even if there were something to back away from, I don't think I would need to you wimpy wolf." Stated Inuyasha in an uninterested tone.  
"Urusei!" said Kouga, launching himself at Inuyasha.  
Inuyasha playfully ducked all of Kouga's attacks while lightly punching him as he passed by. Kouga attacked him once more but threw a fake punch, and as Inuyasha ducked the attack, he ran directly into Kouga's leg. He leered back in pain, clutching his stomach for a second before attacking him full force. He punched Kouga full in the face, causing him to stumble back. He came running at Inuyasha with great speed and pushed his face into one of the lockers. Inuyasha punched Kouga in the stomach and continued his attack and kicked him into the locker. The fight was over. Kouga crawled to his feet and stumbled down the hall, but not before turning around and yelling at Inuyasha, "Don't think that I've lost, because I haven't."  
Inuyasha saw no power in the treat and walked away without responding. When he got in his car, he remembered that he did not have time to be wasting, he had to get over to Kagome's house or she might show a little bit of personality like Sango's.  
  
Kagome sat on her couch, watching the door with a little concern. He does remember that I asked him here doesn't he? Did he get lost on the way because of my confusing directions? Her thoughts were interrupted as the door bell rang. She smiled and ran to the door. When she opened the door, she gasped out in fright. In front of her stood Inuyasha, battered and bruised. The most prominent of the injuries was a cut over his left eye, which was bleeding profusely.  
"Oh my god, what happened? Were you mugged?!" said Kagome in a worried voice.  
"Nothing, it's no big deal." Inuyasha said, trying to calm the frantic girl as she dragged him through the house. She walked into the kitchen and pushed him towards a chair, and ordering him without words to sit.  
"Don't worry about it, it's not that big of a dea_" Inuyasha had no time to finish his sentence when she turned around with flames in her eyes.  
"SIT." She said it with no expression, but it had the effect she needed. Inuyasha, looking purely scared, shut up and sat down on the chair so quickly he could have broken it. When she turned around again, she had her normal worried face on. She delicately washed away the blood that had dripped all over his face with a warm, damp cloth and was careful not to be hard on the wound itself. After she had cleaned him up a little, she pulled out the alcohol and dripped some on a clean rag.  
"This is going to hurt a little." She said with concern. As she dabbed it on the cut, Inuyasha said nothing, but winced at the pain. She quickly removed the rag and dampened a new one. She pushed it to the wound and mopped up the small amount of blood that had leaked out. She placed a square of gauze on top of the cut and taped it down with some athletic tape. Inuyasha wondered why she even cared to dress it so well, no one, not even his mom had ever taken such time to care for him. She usually just gave him some pain-killers and a Band-Aid and left him to himself, though that was to be expected, because she was the owner of a large chain of pharmacies.  
"Well, if you are feeling up to it, would you like to hit the books?" asked Kagome, though she still sounded nervous about his injury.  
"Sure, I'm up to it, what is it about?" Kagome face faulted.  
"You mean that you weren't listening the whole half an hour that she was talking about it?" Kagome said in an aggravated tone.  
"She is like the most boring person alive! I can't listen to her talk for five minutes much less a half an hour! Don't give me that look." Inuyasha said, exhaustion.  
Kagome looked at him in an odd way, but couldn't help but laugh at his utter lack of attentiveness. She broke out laughing so hard that she had to clutch her sides. Inuyasha in the meantime looked worried and continued to ask just what was so funny, which of course made her laugh only harder. He continued to follow her up the stairs to her room.  
After she laughed herself out, Kagome spent the next hour telling exactly what the project was about, though she had to go into great depth about a lot of it because Inuyasha didn't understand it.  
"It's a good thin that I didn't listen, because it sounds like I would have just gotten more confused than I already am." Stated Inuyasha.  
  
It was now ten thirty at night and the two each had a long page of notes, though they were no were close to having enough for a paper. Kagome had already fallen asleep a long time ago and was leaning on Inuyasha's shoulder as a pillow. He probably would have blushed if he wasn't so tired. He decided that it would be better to go home than to fall asleep in her room, so he got up to leave, but forgot that Kagome was on his shoulder. She fell over on the ground and woke up instantly.  
Kagome awoke when she hit the floor, and was startled by the fact that she had slept for the last hour while Inuyasha had continued to study. She saw him put on his jacket and head for the door. "Wait, are you sure you are all right going home in the dark? It could be dangerous." As she was talking, he rested his head on the door frame and closed his eyes. "Inuyasha? Are you okay?" She stood up and walked towards him. By the sound of his breathing she knew that he was asleep and tapped him on the shoulder. "You can stay in the guest bedroom tonight, it's too dangerous for you to be driving. School starts later tomorrow because of the teacher meetings." She led him down the hall and into a room. She left and shut the door behind her, heading towards her room to go to sleep as well.  
  
The next morning Kagome walked into Inuyasha's room, already dressed and awake. She was not surprised by the fact that Inuyasha was not awake yet, he didn't seem to be a morning person. She saw that he was facing the other direction as she approached, so she went around to the other side and lightly tapped him. Little did she suspect that he would grab her around the waist and pull her directly on top of her. Kagome blanched as Inuyasha squeezed her to his body. She was quite afraid that if he wanted to, he could take her right there. She looked down into his peaceful face and found that he was sound asleep. Her mind eased a little, but she blushed anyway. She tapped him a little harder this time and blushed a light pink as she saw him open his eyes.  
Inuyasha was having a nice dream and was warm from his little position, but to his dismay, he was tapped to consciousness by an unknown person. He opened his violet eyes to meet light blue-gray ones. He was slightly surprised and paused for a minute. It finally registered that it was Kagome and not his dream, his face turned a deep red. He quickly rolled over and looked at her lying on the bed where he was just laid.  
"S-sorry, I didn't know that you were there..." He blushed brightly again.  
"It seemed like you did." Kagome stated, but after realizing what she had said, she blushed even more than Inuyasha. "Ahem...I thought that my dad might have some books on the Hydrogen bomb that might be useful. Do you want to go with me? He should be in his room still." Said Kagome, recovering a little from their last encounter.  
"sure." Said Inuyasha, trying to bring his heart beat down.   
  
They walked down the winding corridors that were even enough to confuse an engineer. Finally they reached a door at the end of what seemed like all the halls met. It was like one of those things that was so easy to find but so easy to get away from, like the entrance of the maze is so easy to find but you can't get to the end, and the end is the farthest from the beginning, it seems like there is no way to get out, no way to escape.  
Kagome quietly opened the door so that she would not wake him if he had not done so himself. What she saw would change her and Inuyasha's lives forever. Lying in the bed was a sleeping woman with platinum blond hair that looked silvery the way that it was spread all over the pillow. The sheets were folded just below her belly button, exposing her full breast, which lay uncovered. In the corner stood a man looking in the mirror while tightening his tie. He was dressed well and richly in a suit, probably going off to work. He was Kagome's father.  
Kagome stood with her mouth open, attempting in vain to speak, hoping to disprove what she knew was true. The next thing that she heard sent her over the edge, "Mom?" the voice was quiet and scared, but Kagome heard it. She took off running down the hall crying silently. Inuyasha felt her take of, and after a little bit he turned to follow her. He ran as fast as he could until she was in his sight, but held behind, not having the heart to make her stop, because she was doing just what he wanted to do. She was escaping. Escaping from the hurt, the pain, hoping that if she ran long enough that it would just go away.  
The next thing he knew they were in a garage and Kagome had jumped into her fathers private car. She put her hand on the key, only looking more in pain. She looked like she was going to turn it, when she dropped the hand onto her lap and rested the head on the other hand, which was still on the wheel of the car. Inuyasha entered the car on the passenger side and shut the door. It seemed like Kagome had not noticed him, and he sat quietly, not saying a word, though it was not like he had anything to say.  
"Why did he do it? It's not fair." She was whimpering, but she did not move her head once as she spoke. Inuyasha didn't say anything. He could not answer that question for her. "Why? Why did this have to happen?" again he remained silent. "Why can't I do it?" she asked  
"Do what?" Inuyasha inquired.  
"Why can't I just go, what is keeping me here?" Kagome sobbed.  
"Maybe you just need some help." Replied Inuyasha. He picked her hand up out of her lap, holding it gently. Kagome looked up, confused by his action. He looked her reassuringly in the eyes, then he moved her hand to the key. She smiled sadly, then turned the key with his support. The car started to run and she pulled out of the driveway as fast as she could, the farther she was from here, the better.  
"B-but where are we going to go, we don't have any money!" complained Kagome.  
"I really don't care I just don't want to be here." Said Inuyasha, never taking his eyes off the road.  
  
(end of chapter 1)  
  
Artemis: Well, what did you think?  
Inuyasha: that was really, incredibly bad. Not to mention that Kouga got a few hits on me, that is so unrealistic.  
Kagome: *sniff* that was really sad. I can't believe you wrote that. *sob*  
Artemis: I swear that it will get better! And I'm sorry to you guys who wanted more romance, it will get better in later chapters, I promise.  
Inuyasha: The only thing that could make this story better are giving me a sword, brining in the demons, and NOT MAKIG ME A WEAK HUMAN!!!!  
Kagome: *sniff* osuwari *sniff* (boom) this is a drama you baka. 


	2. a salute to cars and shopping

Disclaimer: I don't remember if I wrote this on the first chapter and I really don't wan to get sued, I don't own Inuyasha and no one got it for me for my birthday, but there's always Christmas!   
  
For those of you who care and actually read this section, I am so sorry that it had taken me so long to write another chapter! I plan to write more often now that it is summer. My English teacher said that things slowed down right before summer and assigned us four papers to write. Four. And then we had to write a book report and a script for a play. Mind you this was all in the last four weeks of school and I also had finals. I have been staying up really late since summer started and sleeping late to make up for it.   
  
My mom came into my room really early this morning and very worried. She said that I was staring. I had been sleeping with my eyes open, isn't that really creepy?! I haven't done that ever before in my life that I know of, but how would you know? I had dreams about my own house, which never happens, but they were not in my room. This leads to the possibility that I was sleep walking too. I have been known to do that. And I also dreamed about cookies, I must have been hungry, but I also had those for breakfast in the morning. I have a feeling this day is going to turn out really weird.  
  
I have been feeling rather sad lately because the guy I have had a crush on for about a year and a half may quit fencing and then I may never see him again. But at the same time, I feel almost free now that he isn't there and it seems more bearable than to talk to this guy while knowing that he doesn't like you back *wave of depression* Well, you probably just want to read the story, WOW. I have been blabbering on for an entire page, you guys should have stopped me!  
  
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Chapter two:  
  
Kagome laid in the back seat of the limo, her hair fanned around her head as she slept peacefully, making her look like some supreme goddess. Her red lips were slightly parted and her eyes lay delicately closed. Her skirt fanned to just cover the tops of her thighs making her look greatly innocent but in the same time like Venus. She laid her head on her bent arm and the other laid against her side, the pale unmarked skin seemed to almost glow at night, but it looked like normal pale skin in the morning, almost as if the daylight hid her true identity.  
  
In the front passenger seat Inuyasha lay just as peacefully. His head leaned slightly more towards his left side, one of the locks of hair along side his face fell gracefully in front of his face. His hands lay along side him limply and he lay there without moving. (A/N: If you need a mental image, imagine when he was pinned against the tree in the first comic book, or the first episode).  
  
Nothing would wake the two, seeing as they looked to the world as if they had the beauty of immortal beings. They lay peacefully until the one thing that no one could stop decided to grace the day with the presence of the two sleepers. A small ray of sun slowly crept it's way up the body of the sleeping girl. The beam snaked up her side, onto her arm, then lay to rest on her beautiful face. Her eyes tried to close tighter, hoping subconsciously that she would not yet have to face the day. But sadly, the force of the sun came over her and she fluttered her eyelashes and finally opened her gray-blue eyes to the day. She moaned slightly and sat up, covering her eyes and slightly stretching her arms to the side.  
  
Hearing her moan, Inuyasha awoke, shaking his head lightly to scare away the sleepiness that sank through his entire body. Kagome made her way to the front seat, not wanting to exit the car, she crawled between the seats and finally twisted herself into the right position to drive. While she was climbing between the seats, and in front of the wheel, she had given Inuyasha a rather good view of her underwear. He turned his head and blushed in the direction of the window, hoping that she hadn't noticed his sight seeing. Inuyasha was far form being a pervert, but he was a guy and subconsciously noted that she was wearing blue silk panties. Kagome rubbed her eyes slightly before yawning.  
  
"Do you want me to drive for a while?" Inuyasha asked in a kind but stern way, having the slightest feeling that by letting the tired girl drive, it would lead to their doom. She nodded and he opened the car door, walking around the car to her side. Once again not wanting to go around the car and into the cold air, she crawled over the seats, giving another underwear shot for the poor unsuspecting teenager.  
  
"I'm really hungry, can we hit a drive through?" Inuyasha was a little startled as Kagome talked for the first time the entire morning, her voice sounding just as beautiful as the night before. Inuyasha nodded and turned the key, which was still in the ignition. They had parked the car in a parking lot late the night before and he just now realized that it was in fact a bank parking lot and decided that they should leave before they caused any more suspicion.  
  
He pulled onto what looked like the main street and drove for a very short amount of time before she was a Wendy's up ahead. He pulled into the drive through and ordered a cheeseburger combo with root beer. He turned to Kagome and asked what she wanted and she ordered a spicy chicken sandwich. Her pulled up to the pickup window and fished a ten dollar bill out of his pocket. He traded it for their meals and took the change. He realized that it was a mere three dollars and thirty two cents. They parked in the parking lot and pulled out their breakfast.  
  
They ate silently ate their meals when suddenly Kagome covered her mouth and squealed. She visibly swallowed and opened her mouth while fanning it with her hands. Inuyasha stopped drinking mid sip when he realized that he hadn't bought her a drink. He quickly handed her his drink and she took it and gulped it with gratitude. She handed it back to him and he realized that over half of it was gone. He looked at it and sweat dropped a little.  
  
Kagome covered her mouth and blushed a little, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to drink it all, this sandwich is much spicier that I thought it would be." The blush was not actually from the fact that she had drunken half his soda, but she realized that she had outwardly taken an indirect kiss from him without noticing. (A/N: for those of you who don't know, an indirect kiss is like sharing a drink with someone. Much more of a big deal in Japan than it is in America.) her blush only deepened when he drank his soda again, taking an indirect kiss himself. Obviously he didn't know, or just didn't care. He looked over at her just as he finished it off.  
  
"Are you all right? Man, that sandwich must have been really hot, want me to get you a drink?" he said in the most honest way, making her blush even more. She shook her head an excessive amount before he shrugged and looked out the window again.  
  
When they were done with their lunch, Inuyasha looked Kagome with a piercing look, then saying in a stern voice, "Where are we going to go now." Kagome looked him in the eyes, seeing no help in them. This was all up to her. She looked into her lap for a while playing with her hands. 'for a moment I forgot all about what had happened. I was happy that I might never have to go back.' Tears started to form in her eyes. 'I never want to go back. I will never forgive Father for that.' She tried to old her tears back, feeling her throat constrict, making it harder to breath. She gave up holding it in and let the tears fall down her cheeks. She never sobbed, only let the tears fall down and stain her face.  
  
Inuyasha looked at the side of her face, though it was shaded by the hair that fell out from behind her ear. He must have made her really mad, seeing as her fists bunched up in her lap, pulling at the hem of her skirt. 'I have no idea what I did to make her mad. I bet she is so repulsed by me that she wants me to take her home right now. God I hope she doesn't kill me.'   
  
"Kagome, I'll take you home. I'm sorry I made you ma-" he was cut off as he saw her turn around, tears of anger in her eyes. 'Crap. She is going to kill me.' He shrunk away to the other side of the car, but she pushed herself out of the seat until she was inches away from his face.  
  
"I don't ever want to go home! I hate him! I hope he dies!!" Inuyasha shrank back from the death threat, but realized that it wasn't directed at him. He thought who it was and realized it was her father. Though she was angry, he saw the hidden hurt that lay under the surface. He felt so bad that she cried from hurt, and he knew that it had something to do with the fact that she said she wanted him to die. No child really wants their parents to die, no matter how much they say it or try to convince themselves.  
  
She had not gone back to her seat yet, but she had lowered her head so that he could not see her tear stained face. She was shocked when he put his arms around her back and pulled her towards him. She sat there, half in his lap for a while, paralyzed by shock. Then she threw her arms around his back, crying into his shoulder. They sat there for a while, holding onto the last thing that they had, each other. Inuyasha petted her soft hair, hoping that she would calm down.  
  
Finally her sobs ceased and she let go of him. Not wanting to look soft, he let go of her quickly. She settled back into her seat and wiped her eyes free of any tears. She looked at him and smiled softly, then spoke in a quiet voice. "Thank you, I never knew you to be a sympathetic person, but I guess you learn something new every day."  
  
"Keh." Inuyasha replied, turning his head away with his arms crossed, but looking back so as to make sure she didn't start crying again. He saw her smile brightly, leaving no sign that she had been crying. "L-let's get going" he said uneasily.  
  
They traveled on the main street for a while, not really having anything to say. Suddenly the car started making a sputtering sound and he pulled it over to the side of the street. The car completely died. "Shit!" Inuyasha cursed loudly. They were out of gas. Kagome looked upset, then looked across the street.  
  
"Inuyasha! There's a gas station across the street! What luck!" Kagome said enthusiastically.  
  
"Do you have any money?" Inuyasha asked in an annoyed voice. Kagome's smile sunk as she looked at the ironic situation. She sighed and stepped out of the car, deciding that she liked the cool crisp, air instead of the hot, constricting air of the car. She stretched a moment, then decided that she liked sitting down better. She pulled herself onto the hood of the car and laid back against the windshield, her arms acting as a pillow. A car drove by and honked, rousing her from her nap.  
  
"Jeeze. What do you want? We're all the way on the shoulder." She said mostly to herself and Inuyasha, who had joined her on the hood of the car. Inuyasha sweat-dropped, knowing that they were honking at her, not the car. Another car drove by and honked, pulling over to the side of the road. Two guys got out and started elbowing each other. Two rather attractive guys got out of the car, obviously college guys. The one with brown hair said to his friend,  
  
"I get the chic in the school uniform. She's cute!" he said, eyeing Kagome up.  
  
"Well, I get the one with the purple eyes. She's the hot one out of the two." Said the other guy.   
  
Inuyasha started twitching when they were talking about Kagome to the other, not knowing that they could hear them. But when he heard the other guy, he got mad.   
  
"I'M A GUY!" the guy that was eyeing up Inuyasha looked rather dumbfounded.  
  
"Dude! You were checking out a guy!" he said, laughing loudly. He recovered quickly saying to Kagome, "We may have to share you, you looking for a good time?" he said, walking closer.  
  
Kagome was feeling very uncomfortable, but before Inuyasha could yell at them, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "I'm a guy too!" Inuyasha fell of the hood of the car and the two college guys backed away, got in their car and drove away as fast as that crappy car would take them. After a few minutes Inuyasha recovered and came and sat back on the hood of the car. Kagome looked at the dazed and still surprised look on his face along with the sizable lump on his head. Kagome looked at him again and spoke in a matter-of-fact voice. "Think we should get off the car now?" without answering, they both crawled off of the hood. Kagome started to make her way to the back of the car when Inuyasha talked in a fully recovered voice.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Holding onto a little hope that my dad keeps gas in the trunk." Kagome said, opening the trunk. She looked in the trunk, seeing that there was no gas her shoulders slumped. Inuyasha looked over her shoulder at the only things that were in the trunk. He pushed Kagome back and pulled one of two briefcases forward. "Let's open it." Said Kagome, no longer respecting her father or his privacy. Inuyasha unbuckled the clasps and pulled the top open. The two gasped as they looked down into the money filled briefcase. The money almost spilled out and also it was tied together, all of them bundles of 100 dollar bills. Inuyasha grabbed one of the bundles and pocketed it, closing the briefcase and the trunk.  
  
"Let's go." Inuyasha said.  
  
"What are we doing?" Kagome said in response.  
  
"We'll push this over to the gas station, fill it up, and then we are on our way." Inuyasha said with a gleam in his eyes. They put the car into neutral and pushed it across the street, getting flicked of by many drivers as they stopped the two lane traffic. Finally they made it there and Inuyasha started gassing up the car while Kagome sat panting against the car. When it was done, they got in the car and started driving in the same direction they were going before.  
  
"Where do you want to go?" asked Inuyasha, knowing that they could go virtually anywhere they wanted.  
  
"First the beach, then Kyoto, then Hokkaido, then London, then the U.S..." Kagome continued happily.  
  
"Can I take it that you don't want them to find us?" Inuyasha asked, getting a little serious.  
  
"Of course I don't want to be found. This is the best fun I've had in my life!" Kagome started out in a stern voice, but finished in a cheerful tone, throwing hr arms up to emphasize the point.  
  
"Well, I have some bad news. Your father sent an add to the paper saying that we are missing. And not to mention that I have kidnapped you. He has our pictures in the paper and the car." He handed her a paper that had their faces printed on the front page, and low and behold, the car was on there too.  
  
"My dad is so selfish. I could swear that he cares more about the god damn car that if I was dead in a ditch!" she said in a frustration, throwing the paper on the floor.  
  
"We need another car, and I don't think that we have a chance of buying one at a dealership. Maybe we should- whoo baby!" Kagome looked to where he was looking and saw a red Ferrari Roadster sitting in a driveway. He pulled off of the main road and pulled up in front of the house. The thunderbird sat in front of the house with a for sale sign on it. They got out of the car and Inuyasha took no time to be next to it, examining it for dents, nicks and scratches. He ran his hands over the smooth sides of the car and looked carefully at the leather interior. He all but started to drool as he sat on the pavement looking at the car.  
  
"Well, I see we have someone who would like to purchase my car." Said an old man that walked out of the house. He was talking to no one in particular, but Kagome took over.  
  
"I think we are interested in purchasing it, but may I inquire you are selling it in the first place?" Kagome showed great ease with strangers and with financial things.  
  
"I bought it during a mid-life crisis and now I just need a practical car." Said the old man with a smile on his face.  
  
"Is a limo practical enough?" Kagome asked with a wicked grin on her face.  
  
"Child, that car of yours is worth much more that the Ferrari, I can't let you do that." He said sadly, but she could tell that he wanted the car by the fact that he never took his eyes off it when she spoke. She smiled and grabbed his hand, dropping the keys in his hand. He looked surprised, but pulled out a key from his pocket, handing it to her. She shook hands with him, finishing off the deal. She jumped in and started the car.  
  
"Inuyasha, if you don't get in now, I'll leave without you!" Inuyasha hadn't mover from his collapsed-on-the-pavement-and-drooling position, but perked up and jumped over the door into the passenger seat as he heard her threat. Kagome put the car in reverse and sped out of the driveway and onto the main road. She pushed the car to it's limit, loving the feel of the engine. She drove for a while until out of her peripheral vision she saw something all teenagers thrive on. "Mall." She said it in an almost evil way and stopped in mid traffic, turned a U turn and went strait for it. When she saw that there was no access from this street she drove right through the grass and into the parking lot.   
  
She stopped the car in the parking place perfectly and put the car in park. She looked over at Inuyasha to see him clutching the seat and the door of the car, a look of horror on his face. "What?" Kagome said in a perfectly innocent tone. Inuyasha exhaled and opened the door slowly as if suspecting it to start again. She got out cheerfully, grabbing two bundles of money from the suitcase that lay under her seat. "Let's go!" she said in the cutest way possible while trotting off to the main building. Inuyasha followed reluctantly.  
  
The first store that they came to was a girls clothes store. Inuyasha would have run away but Kagome gave him a glare that sent chills down his back and the next thing that he knew was that he was sitting in front of a changing room. He was looking at the ground trying to avoid the angry looks he was receiving. He didn't realize Kagome coming out until she stood right in front of him. He trailed his eyes up her body until he could see all of what she was wearing, and he easily admitted that it wasn't much. She wore a short, red, sequenced dress that was amazingly only held up by thin spaghetti straps. He stared wide eyed for a while until she spoke again, "So, does it look good on me?" she asked in a voice that told him that she really did care what he said.  
  
"Whatever. Get it if you like it, we have the money." 'please get it, please get it...' the next time she came out she was wearing tight leather pants and a tight leather tank top that hugged her figure too well for his well being. "Keh, just get it." Though he said it as though he didn't care, she looked way to good in it for him to admit. Next she dragged him to a man's clothes store and grabbed an armful of clothes for him to put on.  
  
First he came out baggy jeans and a dark purple shirt, looking like a beaten puppy. Kagome smiled and said, "You are definitely getting that." Next he came out in black leather pants and a red silk shirt with a dragon crawling over the chest. Inuyasha liked this outfit more than he expressed and some of the girls with their boyfriends liked it too. Inuyasha didn't notice the giggling girls as he went back into the dressing room to get into his normal clothes again, and he also didn't notice Kagome look angrily back at the girls, making them turn away instantly.  
  
Kagome was kind enough to let Inuyasha stay outside as she went inside Victoria's Secret to buy some underwear, Inuyasha meanwhile stood very still while trying to get the image of Kagome modeling her underwear for him. Finally she came out and they continued on, passing by and looking in the windows. Kagome urged Inuyasha inside a book store. Inuyasha looked around for one minute before giving up and grabbing the latest issue of Ranma. He met Kagome at the register to pay for her books and saw that she had two. Shojo Weekly and a romance novel Sins and Kisses by Moonlight. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and was about to comment when Kagome glared at him, daring him to.   
  
Soon it was getting late and the stores started closing so they headed back to the car. Kagome let Inuyasha drive because she was afraid that she would fall asleep. He drove for a while until he realized that she was asleep and he was getting much too tired to drive. He pulled into the closest hotel and tapped Kagome awake. They grabbed all the bags from shopping and the briefcase before letting the valet take the car.  
  
They walked up to the front desk and looked at the woman. "We would like a room for the night, and can we pay in cash?" Inuyasha said. The woman looked Inuyasha over, then looked at Kagome, then turned back to Inuyasha.  
  
"She is wearing a high school girl uniform, do you expect me to believe that you have the money to pay for a room, much less in cash?" Inuyasha looked a little angry and like he was about to yell at the woman from his lack of sleep. Kagome saw the problem, but luckily she thought quickly on her feet and jumped in.  
  
"Well, you see, we've come to elope because our parents don't agree that we are old enough to be together, and our friends supported us by chipping in with all their money. We could use my credit card, but I'm afraid that my father will come and hurt me. He has a drinking problem and I know what he is capable of. So would you please help us?" Kagome emphasized her point by grabbing Inuyasha's arm and shedding a very realistic looking tear.  
  
The woman at the desk looked at them rather kindly and nodded, tears almost coming to her eyes. "Well, you are in luck, there is one room that is not booked. It's a good thing that you two are lovers because it is the honeymoon suite." Inuyasha, who had already been blushing from the comment of them coming to elope, had his jaw drop to the floor when he heard about the room situation. Kagome handed over the money and took the key.  
  
She dragged Inuyasha after her and went to the elevator. She selected the top floor as the woman had told her and they sat in uncomfortable silence as the elevator slowly crept up each floor. They finally reached the 14th floor and stepped out. Kagome reached the door and turned the key. She pushed the door and turned on the lights. They were a light shade of red and the room was filled with furniture that was pink and red. The bed had a canopy around it and there was a large bathroom with a marble tub in it. They looked at the room in amazement and the bed. One bed. One very small bed.  
  
The two looked at each other and blushed, then they entered the room and shut the door behind them.  
  
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Ha Ha Ha! A cliffhanger! Please review and I promise to get the next chapter out faster than last time. And in fear of being sued...  
  
The other Disclaimer: I don't own Wendy's, Ranma, Victoria's Secret, any magazine that may be called Shojo weekly, or Sins and Kisses by Moonlight if anyone would be stupid enough to name a book that.  
  
Inuyasha: Why did you have a guy hit on me?!  
  
Artemis: Because it's really funny.  
  
Kagome: I liked it.  
  
Inuyasha: Bitch!!  
  
Kagome and Artemis: Which one?  
  
Inuyasha: ...um, both of you!  
  
Artemis: Kagome, if you please.  
  
Kagome: Osuwari!  
  
Inuyasha: *THUD*  
  
Artemis: I promise to make Inuyasha blush more if you review! *smile* 


	3. one bed and lots of sake

Disclaimer: wow, I am just way too paranoid about being sued, but...I-don't-own-Inuyasha-and-I-never-will. *sob* Now that that heartbreaking statement is over, who want's to know a little about me?  
  
*silence*  
  
I thought so! You guys just can't get enough of me!  
  
*crickets chirping*  
  
Well, I am so glad to be able to install a new chapter! I got really sad when no one reviewed my first chapter except for Jurei, who by the way is now my absolute favorite person for reading *both* of my fics! Well, I was so happy because my story has like four reviews now!  
  
audience: *sweat drop*  
  
That cute boy at fencing, though I haven't seen him for a while has had a tendency of showing up in my dreams, and believe me, I never have been able to control what I dream about. By the way, you guys who actually take the time to review, tell me if the second chapter was easier to read than the first, because I never really look at it once it is posted. I'm sorry that there may be spelling errors in the chapters, but you try writing a ten page story and then reading it over again, it gets really boring, then you look out the window and you're like, how did it get so dark, you mean there is a world outside of my room? Then you stand up and you get this major head rush and you are like, oh, I haven't eaten all day! And I will just shut up now so that you can read the story.  
  
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Chapter two:  
  
As the two closed the door behind them, they tried not to look at each other in fear of great embarrassment. Everything was a red color, including the doors and walls. In one corner stood a book case, and out of curiosity, Kagome walked over and pulled out one of the books at random. She opened to a page in the middle of the book, Inuyasha watched her expression. She turned a bright red, so bright in fact that it was distinct over the red glow of the lights. She slammed the book closed and placed it back in the bookcase, slowly backing away.   
  
In normal circumstances Inuyasha would be laughing his lungs out, but due to what the book contained, and the fact that he was in a room with an extremely beautiful girl that he barely knew, he held his tongue.  
  
Without noticing, they both walked towards the bed, tired from all that had happened that day. The two of them fell flat on the bed, sighing from the relief of being off the road. Inuyasha rolled to be on his side, but was met by the surprised eyes of Kagome. For a minute, time seemed to stop and they looked into each other's eyes. Then, in a burst, both of them blushed and launched themselves off the bed. Kagome stood with one hand against the wall facing the bed in horror and the other hand trying in vain to cover her spreading blush. Inuyasha stood with one hand against the wall, facing towards it in hope of hiding his embarrassment.  
  
Inuyasha turned from the wall, finally having control of his nerves and said gruffly, "I'll get them to send up a cot, it wouldn't be right for two teenagers to sleep in one bed." He said in full control, looking her in the eyes in a serious matter. It was quiet for a while, so Inuyasha started to head for the room phone. He was about to pick it up when Kagome jumped behind him and slammed the phone back on the hook with his hand still around it.  
  
"If we send for a cot, we'll blow our cover and they will kick us out for sure. The only reason that we got the room in the first place was because of our story." She said, fully recovered from her past state.  
  
"I ain't sleepin' on the god damn floor!" Inuyasha said, getting very angry.  
  
"You don't have to sleep on the floor. It's not impossible for two teenagers to sleep in the same bed without doing anything!" she started out with a light blush, but it was covered as she started yelling. Inuyasha watched wide eyed as she blew up, not really looking mad, just surprised. "And anyway, if you offered to sleep on the cot, then I can probably trust you." She finished with a slight blush as all the anger went away.  
  
Inuyasha looked stunned by the last part, even more than when she had blown up. Soon, his personality came rolling back form whatever trip it had gone on. "Who said that I was the one who was going to sleep on the cot." He said in a cocky manner. Kagome looked angrily at him and turned to walk to her shopping bag. She pulled out a small package and walked into the bathroom.  
  
Inuyasha stood there for a minute before realizing that he really had only bought two that Kagome picked out for him and a swimsuit. He thought for a minute, then decided that the swimsuit trunks were the best choice. He dressed quickly and lay on the bed, looking at the canopy that covered the bed. It was a crimson color and looked like plain see through fabric, but when he looked at it closely, it sparkled slightly under the dim light that filled the room.  
  
Inuyasha was looking at the canopy with such interest that he didn't notice when Kagome entered the room. She walked towards him brushing her hair lightly with a brush that was obviously from the hotel, considering it was new and pink with red hearts. Kagome stopped combing her hair and carefully settled down on the bed in hope of not informing Inuyasha of her presence.  
  
She lay next to him staring at the canopy, periodically looking back at him to make sure that he was looking at the same thing. They sat there for a while before Kagome gave up looking at the canopy and propped her self on her elbow, looking down on Inuyasha. "So, fan of canopies I see." She said in a calm voice. Inuyasha looked like he saw a ghost and sat up in a jolt. Giving a surprised 'gah!' before sitting up and crossing his arms.  
  
"Keh." He finished by turning his head away and looking uninterested by her comment. Kagome shrugged and got off the bed, continuing to comb her hair as she walked around the room and stopped to look out the window. Inuyasha turned to watch her as she brushed her hair and noticed the nightgown. It was a light yellow silk with three tiers of fabric that came under it in blue, pink, and green, giving the illusion of a slip. It also didn't take a genius to figure out that it had come from Victoria's Secret. It was pretty short.  
  
Inuyasha got of the bed and walked up to the window, gazing out at the scene. His eyes opened in amazement as he looked down on an alive city filled with glittering high-rises and dancing lights on the towers above them. He stood there for a while, looking at the big city below. Then, Kagome spoke, "I always wanted to live in a big city, become an actress or a singer, just like my mom." She spoke quietly, but in a dreamy voice.  
  
It took Inuyasha a while to register this, but then he asked, "Your Mom was an actress?!"  
  
"No, but she had always wanted to be. She was very beautiful and she went to a bar one night to sing. That was when she met my father. She instantly fell in love with him, but that night she received two proposals. My father proposed to her, even though he had no ring. He said that he could make her very happy and give her anything that she wanted. Another man came up to her that she had never met before and offered her a job on a movie that he was casting for. That night she gave up her dream to be with the man that she loved." She said this in a sad voice.  
  
"So where is she now? I've never seen her before."  
  
"She died a long time ago." She said in a monotone voice, turning away without expression.  
  
Inuyasha looked out the window still, thinking about what she had just said. 'She always seems so happy, how could she be with a past like that?' Inuyasha thought. 'how come I had to bring it up? Why do I always screw up so badly? Baka.' Inuyasha was about to hit himself when Kagome spoke again.  
  
"How about we get some sleep? It's been a long day." She said in a happy voice once again. Inuyasha looked confused for a minute before nodding. They both lay down to sleep on the bed and realized how small the bed actually was for the first time. When they lay flat on their backs with their hands on either side, there was about three inches between them. Of course this is not really how people sleep, especially teenagers. Inuyasha flopped down first with his hands out on either side and Kagome landed shortly after him with her hands spread out to their fullest extent. As a result, Kagome's butt happened to land directly on Inuyasha's hand and she smacked him in the face with her arm.  
  
The Result:  
  
"Kyaaa!!! Inuyasha! Hands, Hands!!"  
  
"My nose!!!"  
  
Kagome jumped off the bed and tried to cover her spreading blush as Inuyasha took full advantage of his now free hand to clutch his nose. After Inuyasha recovered from his injury, he sat up and scooted to his half of the bed. Luckily for him, Kagome couldn't see the blush under the redness of where she had hit him moments before.  
  
They stood for a while on opposite sides of the room trying to slow their surprised hearts and cool their red faces. After about five minutes they lay back down on the bed in a way that they didn't touch each other, but they did hang half off the bed on the other side.  
  
'God that was embarrassing, I need to go to sleep and not think about him. Nope, there is absolutely no one sleeping next to me. I' m all alone in this bed , I just can not move. Yes, it is a very small bed and there is a boy on the other side. Aaaaaaaaaggggghhh!!!!!!! There is no boy there! I'm never going to sleep, am I?'  
  
'Lower respiration, slow heart beat, cool face, ignore girl. What am I kidding myself about, I can't possibly think all those things at once! Not with my one track mind! All right, just knock off the last three things and I should be fine. No, wait, that doesn't help me at all! Ignore girl, ignore girl, stop thinking about sex every 8 seconds... wait, does trying to forget it make me think about it more? It's going to be a long night.'  
  
The two of them lay completely still and didn't move a muscle in fear of bumping into one another, their eyes wide open as they tried to quiet their breathing so that the other one would think they had already fallen asleep. They both lay awake for a half an hour, not even blinking, though they were very tired. It seemed like hours before one of them decided to speak.  
  
"Inuyasha? Are you awake?" the voice was a feminine whisper as it came from Kagome's mouth. She still didn't move, though it would give her comfort to wake Inuyasha up to talk for a while. There was silence for a minute, then a slight shift in the bed behind her and a husky voice responded.  
  
"Yeah..." the response could have almost been a sigh if he hadn't moved to sit up in the bed. Kagome sat up and turned to face the boy behind her. He sat propped up on one arm and looked at her with dark eyes that showed no emotion in the dark room. He was barely visible with his dark hair and could almost not be seen except for his rather pale skin that showed great contrast with the black room.  
  
Kagome turned onto her stomach and laid her head in her hands as she looked out the window for an instant. Her eyebrows were knit tightly together and she seemed to be contemplating something very important, but it was gone quickly as she turned to look back at Inuyasha and broke the calm silence.  
  
"It doesn't look like we are getting to sleep any time soon, let's order a little something to drink. No, a lot of something." She got off the bed and headed to the phone that was on the table across the room. She turned on the switch on the lamp beside it and they both squinted as the light hit their sensitive eyes and filled the room instantly with light.  
  
By the time that Inuyasha was accustomed to the light and he opened his eyes, Kagome was talking on the phone in the pleasant schoolgirl voice she always spoke to people at school with. "Yes, I would like to order a pitcher of warm saké, no, wait, better make that two. We'll pay cash, thank you."  
  
"Saké?" asked Inuyasha in a concerned voice. He had no idea that Kagome was so fond of alcohol, and by the look on her face, it had made her day. Kagome walked into the bathroom, but didn't bother to shut the door, causing Inuyasha a great sense of intrigue and he decided that it was best to follow her. As he walked in he was relieved and upset at the same time that she was still fully clothed. He is a teenage boy after all.  
  
Instead of taking a shower she was filling the hot tub with steaming hot water. Inuyasha had no time to question why she wanted to take a bath at the moment when there was a knock on the door. Still with a confused look on his face he grabbed a $50 bill out of the briefcase and went to the door. A maid stood at the door with a tray containing two pitchers that were filled to the brim with saké and a piece of paper that he suspected to be the bill. He directed her to put it down on the table with the phone on it.  
  
He looked at the bill and on the bottom was printed:  
  
TOTAL: $24.38  
  
He shrugged and decided that he didn't want to do any math, so he gave her the whole $100 bill and before she tried to explain, he pushed her out the door. He sighed and took the saké to the bathroom to give Kagome some, but she was already in the hot tub in her bra and underwear. Inuyasha managed to stifle the geyser of blood that shot from his nose without her noticing, but couldn't stop blushing. He placed the tray on the sink and came up with a rude comment to level out the playing field.  
  
"Why the hell are you in a bath tub at this time 'a night? You took a shower, like, an hour ago!" Inuyasha said harsh words, but his face was still tinted pink.  
  
Kagome turned her head to look at Inuyasha and rolled her eyes, "It's a hot tub and for your information it is very relaxing." Inuyasha responded with the best response that he could muster.  
  
"Keh!" he said turning his head the other way and crossing his arms. It would have been more effective if he wasn't wearing only boxers and his face were a more down toned color of red, but Kagome decided not to bring that up.  
  
"Oh, forget about it, bring the saké over and get in." she said, eager to get her hands on the saké that she ordered.  
  
Meanwhile, outside in the hall:  
  
"I love you, you stupid teenager! If you would just stay the week then I could put my kids through college!" she said, kissing the money.  
  
Inuyasha looked at her as if she was crazy, though it was obvious that he thought she was after all this time. "Are you stupid or something? I don't have a swimsuit!"  
  
"Well neither do I and I'm fine!" she said, gesturing to her makeshift suit. Inuyasha rolled his eyes as if to disapprove, but got in. He had to admit that the water was nice on his tense back and he soon didn't even remember he was only wearing his boxers.  
  
Kagome served the first round of Sake, and of course, filled the two glasses to the top, but was careful not to spill one drop of the precious alcohol. "See, you just have to loosen up if you want to enjoy yourself. I'll be dammed if I'm not going to live it out with all the money we have!"  
  
Inuyasha was a little uneasy at first, being in a hot tub with a woman for the first time ever, and she wasn't even really wearing a swimsuit. This however changed after the fifth round. The two of them were laughing so hard (and loud for that matter), they must have woken the whole hotel.  
  
A/N: If any of you have ever drunken alcohol in a Hot Tub, then you know that you get drunk much faster than if you drink it at a dinner party. This includes some funny drunk stories that you might hear about later.  
  
Soon, the two bottles were empty, and the water had gotten cold, but with two drunken teenagers, the party is never over. They both jumped out of the tub and decided that the bed would make a good trampoline. They messed up the sheets and knocked the canopy off the bed. After they had thoroughly destroyed the bed, they decided that taking all the books and making a castle out of them was an extremely good idea.   
  
They made the whole room into a fort, pulling the sheets clear off the bed and dragging the furniture around. soon the room was a labyrinth of books, armoires, and blankets. Kagome gave him the great idea that they should dress to fit their part, and wrapped herself in a sheet and put and upside down popery bowl on her head.   
  
Inuyasha decided that his boxers were enough of a royal robe and took the top off an incense burner to serve as his crown. Kagome stood on the dresser, that was now in the center of the room, Inuyasha standing below her as if presenting his queen.  
  
"Noble people of Sakura Kingdom. I come before you as your beautiful queen! Bow before my beauty and strength! My handsome king and I have built this magnificent castle for you!" Kagome presented in a deep, royal sounding voice. At this point Inuyasha was surprised that she could say such big words, even when drunk to the point of hallucination. "Bow to me!" she said in a less royal way. This time she sad it in a soft faint voice.  
  
Kagome swayed on the furniture and fell, the sheets rippling poetically in the non existent wind. Her hair flew in her face as she headed for the ground beneath. Inuyasha was surprised by her sudden loss of words, and looked over to see her falling to the ground. He dove to catch her, and in the shear height and weight of the fall, he fell hard against the dresser behind him and was pinned.  
  
He reached his one free hand to touch the place where his head ad hit the dresser, and was about to wake her. It was then that he truly saw her face. Her long, silky hair parted into strands to pool around her shoulders and against his chest. One strand cut across her flawless skin and crossed her pink lips, which were partly open, just enough to breathe in a small stream of air. These were the truest lips that he had ever seen. They were smooth and silky without a hint of dryness of cracks. Though they were the most beautiful shade of pink, they had no gloss or lipstick on them, they were the most natural and beautiful things that he had seen on any giver human being.  
  
Her face was relaxed and white as the full moon, it showed no scars or blemishes. She looked like a moon goddess, like her skin had never been touched by daylight, and her hair never bleached by the sun. her eyelashes lightly brushed the skin under her eyes as her eyes moved in her dreamlike state.  
  
He sat staring at her face for a minute, but realized that he really wanted to see if her skin was truly as soft as it appeared. With the back of his hand he gently touched the skin on her cheek. It was like soft silk on his rough hand, and he removed it in favor of her not waking up. He stared at her face longer yet, until he too fell asleep, relaxed by her rhythmic breathing.  
  
The next morning found the two teenagers in much the same place that they had fallen asleep the following night. It was about 10:00 AM, and the rays of sun shown across Kagome's eyes and they slowly fluttered open, revealing her gray-blue eyes. She squinted in the bright light of the morning and groaned at the slight throbbing in the back of her head. She raised and arm to cover her eye, but soon realized that it was completely asleep and she couldn't move it. She moved the other hand which seemed to be fine and wiped it across her hand. She sat for a minute trying to adjust her eyes, when she realized that she was much warmer than she thought she would be if alone in a bed. Kagome also realized about then that she was not in a bed at all. Her eyes widened in a comical fashion, letting the sun into her vision to place a sleeping Inuyasha right above her.  
  
Kagome realized that her arm was pinned slightly under his arm in a light grip and tucked slightly under her own body weight. She blinked a few times to get things into focus so that she could see what really happened the night before. She saw that the light source was coming from the large open window that was on the wall behind the bed. She shifted so that she could get out of Inuyasha's grip without pushing on him and causing him to wake unnecessarily. She braced herself against the floor and heaved herself up as hard as she could. Unfortunately Inuyasha pulled her tighter, pulling her whole body weight down onto the floor with him. This force caused him to once again slam his head against the wooden chest of drawers.  
  
Inuyasha shot up, rolling Kagome onto the floor in front of him with a little grunt. He grabbed the back of his head and hissed in pain. His eyes closed from the searing pain of the once again self inflicted wound and the bright sun flooding into the room. He sat there rocking back and forth reciting every curse word that he knew, repeating some of his favorite when he ran out. Eventually he just went to the traditional, "OWW, OOOO, Oh!" Kagome sat up while he said his rant of curses. She knew that it was her fault, but she was far to scared that he would yell at her instead of whatever he was now.  
  
Inuyasha opened his eyes and saw a very guilty looking Kagome sitting in front of him, flexing a numb looking arm. Finally, Kagome got up the courage and said, "I'm sorry, I think that it was my fault that you hit your head." She said it very quietly, and repeated it louder after seeing the surprised, confused look in his face. When he said nothing, she stood up and announced that she would get him some ice from the ice machine down the hall. She put the bolt in place on the door and ran out with the ice bucket. Inuyasha simply looked slightly more confused than if someone had told a hamster the meaning of life, then he stood up and tried to shake out his stiff tingling legs.  
  
It wasn't until a minute later that he realized that he should say something about the fact that she thought it was her fault. With the experiences that he had had with women, though very few, he knew that this would eventually come and bite him in the ass if he didn't do something now. realizing that he was wearing very little, he grabbed a robe on his way out and let it hang open as he walked down the hall. Where was that ice machine again?  
  
Kagome skittered out of the room and heaved a great sigh. She wished that he had said something instead of acting like he had no idea what he was talking about. All that Kagome wanted was to be friends with Inuyasha and they had been given a good opportunity. She just hoped that she hadn't screwed things up. She followed the signs to the ice machine and stood in there for a minute thinking. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice the person coming into the room behind her.  
  
"What's a pretty little girl like you doing in hear all alone, huh? You know that places like this can be dangerous. I'll take you back to your room, my pleasure. You'll just have to stop by my room first so that I can pick something up." He approached her and took a hold on her wrist. Kagome, in the past, had taken self defense to get out of this kind of situation, but her head was still hazy from the alcohol that she had had the previous night. She tried to wrench free from his grip but he was far stronger than her.  
  
She was about to scream for help when she saw Inuyasha walking along the hall, passing the ice machine hall completely. She said his name quietly at first, then shouted, wrenching in the mans grip harder. At first she thought that Inuyasha didn't hear her, and started to cry, fearing the worst would happen. The man behind her covered her mouth and she tried to shake the hand off. Then she saw Inuyasha running gallantly down the hall toward the room. He skidded to a stop in the door way and yelled at the guy, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"  
  
The man instantly released Kagome and backed away, "I wasn't doing nothing, I swear, I didn't know she was with someone!" he was speaking behind his back as he ran down the hall to his room. Inuyasha would have chased after him if Kagome wasn't firmly in his grip, shivering and tears running down her face silently. He had an arm around her waist in order to keep her as close to him and as far away from the other guy as possible.  
  
They started to turn around when he realized that she was still in the clothes that she had worn in the hot tub the past day. He felt embarrassed that he had grabbed her so defiantly with no modesty. He took the rob off his back and draped it over her shoulders. She smiled at the floor, but he knew it was directed at him mentally, though maybe not physically. When they got back to the room, she sat on the bed and stared into space even when he spoke to her. He sighed and told her that he was going to change in the bathroom. He assumed that she understood and left the door unlocked, thinking that she wouldn't walk in on him.  
  
Inuyasha was pulling his pants on when Kagome opened the door, blushing slightly, though still not looking directly at him. She spoke silently, though Inuyasha heard her because of the lack of noise in the bathroom.  
  
"I'm sorry. I'm such a nascence. I'm really sorry, it's all my fault and all that I seem to bring you is trouble. You can just leave and I'd understand." As she said this, her head started to go further and further down to the ground. Inuyasha realized that she was crying again and felt a great tightening in his chest. He attempted to speak at first, but he couldn't. He relaxed again and responded.  
  
"I don't want you to leave. I need you to be here. I never would have been able to leave without you. Just, pretty girls like you should be more careful with guys like that running around. Please be more careful." After he said it, he realized what he had really said and started to blush profusely. He was about to come back with a foot-in-mouth statement when he saw that she was smiling, still crying, but maybe they weren't the same tears as before. She said a quiet thank you and left.  
  
The two of them packed up their things, things back to usual, and checked out of the hotel. They were glad to see the same front desk lady as before and were able to pay the rest of the cash necessary.  
  
They got back into the car and headed out for another day of adventure.  
  
Meanwhile: the cleaning woman entered the room and looked at the furniture pulled into strange places and the sheets strewn across the room. "It must have bee one HELL of a night for the newlyweds."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kagome: that was so sweat!   
  
Inuyasha: weren't there two suitcases to begin with?  
  
Artemis: *sweatdrop* sorry for the confusion, just change all the things in your memory to say that there are two.  
  
Inuyasha: it took you, like, 3 months to put out a new chapter!! Are you retarded or something?  
  
Kagome: Inuyasha, you should be nice to the author. She could do anything you know, like make you gay for the next few chapters!  
  
Artemis: Ahh, the possibilities!  
  
Inuyasha: 0.0  
  
Artemis: hope to see you next chapter! I swear that it won't take that long again!  
  
Click the button, you know that you want to!!! 


	4. bathhouse fun and an actual plot

Chapter four already? Damn I'm good! HO ho ho ho ho ho ho!!!! (that was ment to be an   
  
anime laugh, not a Santa thing by the way)  
  
I just finished the other chapter last night and I felt so good about the reviews that I was   
  
given that I wanted to start the next chapter. About the progress that I've made, I'm really   
  
sorry about the terribly wait! I'm so stupid and I owe those of you who read it back then a   
  
lot. Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry!!! I really shouldn't be writing now since I have a final really   
  
soon, but I've spent the entire weekend trying to forget that I did. (I'm suck a slacker you   
  
have no idea .;) I love to write and I wish that I could be a writer when I grow up but I   
  
think I need a more stable career. I figure that I will write when I'm retired.  
  
Sorry, I'm ranting aren't I? When I started writing I expected to write a great variety of   
  
stories about all different anime and manga series, but I've only come up with good   
  
stories for Inuyasha. I have really good ideas for more stories, but I thought that I should   
  
finish this fiction first. Tell me what you think though, I'd like to know. By the way, my   
  
first story is not very good at all, but you can read it if you like.  
  
Here are the people who reviewed(thanx guys!):  
  
chibi moon baby  
  
kristan  
  
RUN21  
  
Kody leigh  
  
DatChic Anna  
  
Keep reading!  
  
(please, I beg you!!!)  
  
Ahem, on with the story.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Inuyasha and Kagome stepped out of the hotel and were greeted by a warm, sunny day.   
  
Inuyasha squinted into the sky as he looked at the cloudless day. Kagome stood admiring   
  
the town that they were in. she marveled that the sun had revealed it just to be as   
  
beautiful as the cover of darkness had. She felt a little light headed from the hangover   
  
from the night before, so she settled onto the step that she was previously standing on.   
  
Out of the side of his vision, Inuyasha saw the pained expression on her face and knew   
  
what it was, considering he had it about ten times worse.  
  
"Lets go find a place for breakfast." Said Inuyasha, failing to realize that it was in fact   
  
3:00 in the afternoon. They walked to a place across the street that called it self Shop   
  
Around the Corner. They didn't even bother to stop by the car to drop of their clothes.   
  
Partly because coffee was the only cure for the terrible hangover that they could think of   
  
at the time and mostly because they only had a few articles of clothes each.  
  
They were greeted and lead to a table and left with a few paper menus. They sat in   
  
silence looking at the menus, but not really reading them. They had nothing to say,   
  
though the silence was not one of discomfort. They seemed to be like old friends that   
  
needed not to hear something said to understand it. A very hyper waitress came by the   
  
table and spoke in a loud high-pitched voice.  
  
"What can I get you guys? To drink I mean! I'm so bad at this! I'm so not used to talking   
  
to people that I don't know! Anyway! We have a few early morning alcoholic drinks that   
  
are quite delicio-"  
  
"NO alcohol for god's sake! Never again!" burst out Inuyasha in a desperate voice. Part   
  
of it was having great fear of making his hangover worst and the other part was   
  
desperately trying to make the girl stop talking. The girl looked very taken aback, but   
  
came back fast adding in a more anxious voice.  
  
"would you two like some coffee the? We have regular and decaffeinated, then we also   
  
have a great arrangement of flavored coffees, let's see, hazelnut, vanilla, oh, I'm so bad   
  
at remembering these things, lets see…"  
  
"Two regular ones, please." Kagome said desperately.  
  
"OK, so do you two want appetizers? Do you want me to go over them for you? There are   
  
a lot, but I think that I remember most of them…"  
  
"We'll tip you 40% if you leave now." Kagome said in a flat voice, hoping for the first   
  
time in her life that the waitress wouldn't come back. The waitress, looked confused,   
  
them smiled broadly and bounced away. Kagome and Inuyasha both heaved a sigh at the   
  
same time and laughed. They started talking quietly how they always ended up with the   
  
weirdest waiters at restaurants, fighting about who had the worst story. The waitress   
  
came back and filed the two of their cups with coffee and walked away, and to their luck,   
  
she said nothing at all, seeing that they were talking more friendly then before.  
  
The waitress walked into the waiting room behind the bar and started to talk to the other   
  
girls. She kept looking over the bar at the two of them, then pulling back suddenly when   
  
she thought that they were going to turn around. soon, all the girls were looking over the   
  
bar to see what was so interesting. They spotted the two drinking their coffee.  
  
"Damn, the guy is really cute!!! That girl is so lucky to have him!" said a girl with her   
  
hair pulled back into tiny buns on the back of her head.  
  
"why do the pretty girls have to get all the really cute ones? Isn't it enough that their   
  
pretty?" said one of the girls who was actually rather pretty herself.  
  
"Do you really think their an item? They could be just friends" one of the girls said   
  
hopefully.  
  
"Well, we'll never know. We can't just walk up to them and just ask can we?" the rest of   
  
the girls sighed as she said it and nodded.  
  
At the table that was under close speculation, Inuyasha shuddered and rubbed his arms in   
  
response. Kagome looked confused and questioned him about his health. "Well, you   
  
didn't sleep in a bed after all, you could have caught a cold!"   
  
"I don't think that's it, besides I had you to-" Inuyasha stopped before saying something   
  
very embarrassing, and finished the sentence with a great blush. In order to pull himself   
  
out of the hole, he continued, "I don't think that's it. Don't you get this feeling that we're   
  
being watched?"  
  
"No, why would you think that?" said Kagome in a confused voice as she looked around   
  
and didn't see anything very suspicious. Kagome raised an eyebrow at Inuyasha trying to   
  
imply that he was being overly suspicious.  
  
"You are so clue less." Inuyasha said under his breath, and was glad to observe that   
  
Kagome hadn't heard and continued to look over the menu instead of feeding Inuyasha's   
  
paranoia of being tracked. The waitress came over warily and filled their cups with   
  
coffee again. She wanted to keep that 40% tip still 40%. She smiled and started talking   
  
not as loud and obnoxious as she had before.  
  
"Well, would you like me to explain the specials, or would you rather just order now?"   
  
she kept the worried smile and hoped that they were in a better mood now that they had   
  
had their coffee. She looked between the two of them and wondered whether they really   
  
were a couple. She thought that maybe she could spring the question lightly. Finally, one   
  
of them spoke up.  
  
"I'll have the toasted bagel with cream cheese and locks of salmon on the side. Also, I'll   
  
have some scrambled eggs." Kagome said, barely looking over her menu at the girl. The   
  
waitress for a moment looked oblivious as she stared into space, then remembered that   
  
her job was to write it down. When she finished, she looked at Inuyasha and waited.  
  
"Um… I guess that I'll have the same." Inuyasha seemed to trust Kagome's sense in food   
  
much more than his own, considering he was going to ask if they had pop tarts. The   
  
waitress smiled devilishly because she now had the perfect time to make that sly,   
  
innocent comment.  
  
"You guys are just the cutest couple!" she smiled so much that her eyes squinted and she   
  
thought to herself that she was very smart. She looked at the two teenagers and saw their   
  
faces light up with fluorescent blushes. They both stuttered for words but only one of   
  
them came out with the words.  
  
"W-We're not a couple." She said, the blush only slightly retreating.  
  
"Yeah, we're just friends, really!" Inuyasha managed to break in, but unlike Kagome, his   
  
blush only got worse.  
  
"OK!" the waitress said, "anyway, I'll go get that food for you!" she trotted away   
  
completely unaffected by the outburst, which had actually caused almost all the heads in   
  
the restaurant to be focused on that table. Inuyasha and Kagome started to slowly sink   
  
down into their chairs, hoping that they would soon be ignored or disappear all together.  
  
Meanwhile, the waitresses in the back of the bar were chattering away. "Oh, the   
  
innocence of young love! I'm so jealous!" said one of the women, pretending to wipe   
  
away a tear.  
  
"Well, maybe they aren't really a couple, just friends, like they said!" said the clue less   
  
waitress who was serving their table.  
  
"You are so innocent, so young, it is true love!" said an older waitress.  
  
"Yeah, by the way they are acting, they probably are really in love but too embarrassed to   
  
admit it. I wish my life was that romantic! Just like a romance novel!" one young girl   
  
said as she put her hands over her heart and did a classic romance novel cover pose. If   
  
you looked at her, you would expect that she had practiced.  
  
At the table that had received the great attention, Kagome and Inuyasha both   
  
simultaneously sneezed. They looked at each other, then looked in the direction of the   
  
bar. The waitresses saw that the two had caught them and ducked so that you could only   
  
see a few hairs sticking up above the bar.  
  
"Did you feel that too?" Inuyasha asked and Kagome nodded in response, "I actually get   
  
that a lot…" Inuyasha had no idea that he was implying any thing good to his looks, but   
  
instead just looked rather disturbed.  
  
At last the food was delivered and they ate greedily, not having a meal in a long time.   
  
They slapped a bill that was twice as much as the food cost and ran out of the restaurant,   
  
trying to escape the scary waitress girls.  
  
When they reached the car they were panting and laughing so much they could hardly   
  
breath. Kagome put her back against the car and slid to the ground and started to wipe   
  
away the tears of laughter. As soon as they got their laughter under control, Kagome   
  
decided that she really should have taken a shower before she left, and stood up, opened   
  
the mirror, twisting her face in disgust. When you sleep on partially wet hair in   
  
someone's lap, you are in for a really bad hair day.  
  
"Inuyasha, is there a public bath place around here? We were in such a rush getting out of   
  
the hotel, I didn't get to work with my hair." Kagome said while trying to comb her   
  
fingers through her hair, but to no avail.  
  
Inuyasha gave a snort and narrowed his eyes in a mocking fashion, "Girls and their hair.   
  
Always has to be perfect before they leave the house. Now boys, we just know our hair   
  
will be fine, and girls are too preoccupied with their hair to notice a guy's hair." Inuyasha   
  
finished his speech looking quite cocky with his back to the car, resting his arms on the   
  
open window.  
  
Kagome gave a slight twitch of the eyebrow and reached into the driver side on the car,   
  
flipping that mirror open. "Your hair is definitely not fitting for someone as cocky as you   
  
today." She said with great amusement.  
  
Inuyasha gave a worried look, but not to Kagome, more to himself. He leaned into the car   
  
and looked into the mirror. He almost face faulted in noticing that his hair was far worse   
  
than Kagome's and was sticking up in every direction. If one had to categorize it, it   
  
looked like there was a small family of marmots living in his hair and some shampoo that   
  
he was using drove them mad and they revolted.  
  
Inuyasha stood up strait and tried to compose his face to look not so disgusted. "Well, I   
  
suppose we can go, but it is not because of my hair, I just like public baths." Kagome   
  
smiled slyly and stuck a hand up and ruffled his hair. Much to her dismay, it got tangled   
  
and they spent a good half an hour trying to get it out without pulling all of Inuyasha's   
  
hair out.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mr. Higurashi sat at his desk. He was pulling a shaking, nervous hand through his hair.   
  
The collar of his shirt was wet with sweat and his eyes were bloodshot as if he hadn't   
  
slept in days. The office was hot and muggy and he seemed miserable in it, but he knew   
  
that he couldn't leave.  
  
"So, Mr. Higurashi, where is that new shipment that you promised me last week?" Mr.   
  
Higurashi jumped as if he hadn't known the man was there, then lowered his eyes back to   
  
the table, refusing to look the man in the eyes. The man sat across the desk from Mr.   
  
Higurashi, but his appearance was different from Kagome's father.   
  
The man had broad shoulders and slicked back black hair. He had a tight mouth that was   
  
pulled into a devilish grin. He was completely relaxed with his feet on Mr. Higurashi's   
  
desk, showing his well polished black shoes. You could tell that you were in trouble   
  
when you were visited by this man. He was the man who was sent to be cool about   
  
anything that went wrong, but was the last reminder for you to whip it into shape. He   
  
wore his clean pressed white suit with great dignity. As soon as you saw him, you knew   
  
who he worked for.  
  
"Well? Are you going to answer me or should I ask them to sent The Boss instead?" Mr.   
  
Higurashi seemed to shake, and made sure that the man could see his head shaking. He   
  
was far too afraid to speak, but knew that he would need to give an answer soon. He took   
  
a deep breathe and raised his head to look the man in the eyes.  
  
"Well, as you know, Noriko… Mrs. Eiri… has been having greater and greater difficulty   
  
in getting the shipments through unnoticed…" Mr. Higurashi tried to say while sounding   
  
professional, but it was obvious that he was quite frightened.  
  
"We got a report about this from her, but she's a clever girl, she can deal with it. Since   
  
she owns her own shipping company, it is easy to say that she merely has a love for   
  
artifacts and can have the shipping for our merchandise go under the name of the   
  
company. Since it is a given that everything coming from one company gets put under the   
  
companies name, it is virtually impossible to trace. We would never have gotten so far   
  
without her help. I also heard that the last shipment was late, but it did arrive." Said the   
  
sly looking man, who had come to be known as Mr. Shi.  
  
"Well, yes, it did arrive, but…" Mr. Higurashi knew that he would have to tell the man   
  
eventually, but was afraid of the blow that he knew would come. Mr. Shi raised an   
  
eyebrow as if to say, 'I haven't got all day and neither will you if you don't get on with.'   
  
"Well, it was sort of stolen."  
  
"Stolen? Well I'll get all my men on it and it will be recovered quickly without a trace.   
  
Of either the robber or the money." The last part Mr. Shi said with a slight glint in his   
  
eye.  
  
Startled at the thought, Mr. Higurashi jumped into the conversation again, "Well, it was   
  
really just stolen on accident.":  
  
"How can stealing be an accident Mr. Higurashi?" Mr. Shi seemed to be getting more and   
  
more annoyed by this meeting.  
  
"Actually it is quite a coincidence, you see." Mr. Higurashi tried to add a fake laugh, but   
  
it sounded much more nervous as Mr. Shi gave him a glare. "You see Norik- Mrs. Eiri's   
  
kid happened to go to the same school as my daughter an coincidentally they ended up   
  
doing a project together. That day, Eiri…slept over…and anyway, they ran away from   
  
home in my car." Mr. Higurashi again tried to laugh but gave up and just decided to shut   
  
up.  
  
"The car you do your business in? What do you think we are running here you scum?   
  
Daycare?!" Mr. Shi had stood up and was pulling Mr. Higurashi out of his chair by the   
  
collar of his shirt and yelling into his face.  
  
"I-I-I'll get it back, I've already sent out something that says that she was kidnapped by   
  
that boy of hers…Inuyasha. I'll get it back I promise!" Mr. Shi let Mr. Higurashi go and   
  
he dropped into his chair rather clumsily trying to catch his breath.   
  
"Obviously that hasn't worked yet. This is something you should have let us sort out Mr.   
  
Higurashi. I'll give you until tomorrow morning to make a decision. Is it going to be their   
  
lives, or yours?" With that, Mr. Shi walked out the door and left.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kagome and Inuyasha parked the car and walked into the large building. As they entered,   
  
they knew that they had entered a very rich town. The bathhouse was constructed out of   
  
white Marble very well cut. There were two large oak doors that were opened during the   
  
day and hung beneath a dark marble archway. The floor had patterns of beautifully   
  
colored marble that extended into a large entry way. A great fountain lay in the center of   
  
the room and showed several maidens bathing in the water under a waterfall. The top of   
  
the waterfall fell almost twenty feet from the ceiling, causing a beautiful effect of a real   
  
waterfall.   
  
They walked up to the ticket counter and asked how much the tickets were. The man at   
  
the counter looked at Inuyasha in disgust at his lack of grooming. He obviously doubted   
  
that they could pay to get into the baths. He was about to comment on the fact, but   
  
Kagome saw the look on his face and spoke before him.  
  
"I'm very sorry for our state of dress, and we know that this is an esteemed bathhouse,   
  
with it's high reputation after all, and we hope that you will not be fooled by our looks   
  
and except us anyway." Kagome said this in the most sophisticated way that she could   
  
and smiled the cutest smile that she could muster without feeling that she had to hurl.  
  
The man at the counter seemed pleased and told them that the tickets were $25 each.   
  
Inuyasha was about to complain that he had seen bath tickets for $5 dollars and that his   
  
hygiene wasn't worth nearly as much as that, but Kagome stopped him by cramming a   
  
heel into his foot. Inuyasha, luckily for Kagome, didn't yell out, just made a quick inhale   
  
and a small squeaking sound. As she dragged him away, the man at he counter looked   
  
pleased to see the stupid teenage boy limping away.  
  
Inuyasha tried to cover the tear in his eye and asked, or more like he yelled, "Why did   
  
you have to do that?! You're wearing heals too!" Kagome just shrugged and continued to   
  
walk to the next counter. They got towels and a locker for the prized briefcases.   
  
"I'll meet you out in front of the fountain in an hour, deal?" Kagome asked, hoping that   
  
she could relax some.  
  
"An hour?! How long does it take to fix your hair, huh?" Inuyasha said, trying to push the   
  
point home. Kagome just gave him a look and he mumbled a 'never mind' and walked   
  
into the boy's area.  
  
As she walked into the girls bath section she sighed a 'what will I do with him' sigh.   
  
After she undressed, she wrapped her towel around her, though it didn't cover much, and   
  
walked into the bathing area.  
  
On the boy's side, Inuyasha stood in the locker room and placed all his things into the   
  
locker that he had gotten. You could never be too safe with millions of dollars, you   
  
know? It was then that it struck him that her really and truly hated public bathhouses. It   
  
must have something to do with the fact that they called him a pretty boy or yelled at him   
  
that he should be on the other side (sometimes joking and sometimes not).  
  
As he thought this, a rather unattractive guy came up behind him and gave him a slap on   
  
the butt, "Heh heh heh!" the man continued into the bathhouse with a snicker. 'Oh joy.'   
  
Thought Inuyasha, shivered slightly, then walking into the bath area.  
  
As Kagome entered the bathing area she heard a chorus of giggling. 'Such are all   
  
bathhouses.' Thought Kagome. It always seemed that on the girls side of the wall, it was   
  
like they were kids, chasing each other and playing. On the boy's side of the wall of   
  
course since no one even talked, she guessed that they were all to busy not looking at   
  
each other.  
  
'I hope Inuyasha is okay over there…he does look kind of "fancy" for a guy.' Thought   
  
Kagome. 'Hell that guy that time thought he was pretty cute, hope none of the boys over   
  
there are thinking the same thing.' Kagome shrugged and walked over to a tap and started   
  
trying to comb all the knots out of her hair.  
  
On the other side, Inuyasha was using harder methods to get the knots out of his hair. He   
  
had a thick bristled brush and was trying to yank the mats free. All that he really   
  
succeeded in doing was pulling out the hair. After breaking most of the bristles off of the   
  
brush, he decided that it needed to soak for a while and sat in the tub.  
  
Inuyasha settled into the bath, the hot water feeling good on his back muscles. He   
  
decided that sleeping upright with a girl in your lap all night just wasn't a good idea. The   
  
thought made him blush a little, so he quickly through it out. This unfortunately left his   
  
brain open so that he could feel the eye's of the other guys on him and hear what they   
  
were whispering to each other.  
  
"You sure that's a guy?"  
  
"Yeah, definitely a guy."  
  
"He'd make a really pretty girl."  
  
"Bet you he's a total player."  
  
"Definitely, with a pretty boy face like that, I wouldn't be surprised if he had a few   
  
boyfriends too."  
  
Inuyasha twitched slightly, 'My brother looks much more like a girl than I do, but no one   
  
calls him a girl (except for me of course).' 'Ugggh! Must think of something else! Girls,   
  
yes, think about girls. Kagome's a girl…No, think of other girl…can't think of other   
  
girl…think of sports…don't do any sports…think of… Why me?' Inuyasha thought and   
  
sunk further into the water.  
  
Kagome had just finished cleaning her body and hair so she went to settle into the warm   
  
bath water. She felt like she had on a thousand tiny rocks the nigh before. 'Note to self:   
  
never sleep in someone's lap.' The sleeping image of Inuyasha drifted into her head. 'He   
  
acts so tough, but I bet he could be really sweat. He seems to be single, but what girl   
  
would give that up?' Kagome let the thought drift away as she relaxed.  
  
She sat in the water for a while until she decided to get out because her skin was starting   
  
to get wrinkly. A girl about Kagome's age handed Kagome her towel. The girl had short   
  
black hair and a cute little smile. "Thanks, My name is Kagome, what's your name?"   
  
Kagome said as a friendly gesture.  
  
The girl giggled and shook Kagome's offered hand, "My name's Rei. Nice to meet you.   
  
And now that we know each other, I don't feel bad about doing this!" the girl named Rei   
  
jumped aside and a friend sanding behind her turned of a faucet of cold water and   
  
sprayed it all over Kagome. Kagome screamed in surprise, grabbing everyone's attention   
  
in the whole neighborhood.  
  
The two girls giggled insanely and ran off. For a moment Kagome thought, 'I thought that   
  
I gave this up by leaving school. It feels so nice just to be accepted.' Then Kagome   
  
smiled a devilish smile and chased after the two, indiscreetly grabbing a bucket of cold   
  
water. As she caught up with the two girls, she threw the cold water all over them. They   
  
screamed quietly and decided to barrage Kagome with ice cold water. Kagome screamed   
  
even louder as if in pain.  
  
Just as Inuyasha had let himself relax and think of something not distracting, he heard a   
  
blood curdling scream from the other side of the wall. He instinctively jumped out of the   
  
bath as if ready to fight. He continued to look at the wall even though all the other men   
  
went back to their own business. 'What if the police found her and are trying to arrest   
  
her?! Of even worse, what if they are taking her back to her father? I hope that she is   
  
okay.'  
  
Inuyasha didn't move for a while. Then he heard her scream again. Now he knew that she   
  
was in trouble. He looked for a way to get over so that he could save her. He saw a high   
  
up faucet and used it to jump so that he could get his hands over the wall. The other men   
  
looked at him for a second, admiring him for his guts to go 'over the wall', but again   
  
turned their attention else where.  
  
Inuyasha, though he refused to join any sports teams, was very athletic. Getting over the   
  
wall for just about anyone else would have been nearly impossible, but he reached the   
  
top gracefully and with great ease. The top of the wall was about a foot thick, something   
  
fairly easy to balance on for a person like Inuyasha. He decided not to stand up on the   
  
ledge, so he had a foot and a knee on it, ready to spring into action if need be.  
  
Kagome sprayed a bucket of water on the two girls, but noticed that they weren't even   
  
looking at her. She started to follow their gaze, but was interrupted by a shout.   
  
"Kagome!!!" Kagome raised her gaze up to see Inuyasha perched on the wall. She saw   
  
that he had great panic in his eyes and feared the worse, running up closer to the wall,   
  
bucket still in hand.  
  
"Are you okay? Did they come?" asked Inuyasha in a panic.  
  
"Yeah I'm fine." Said Kagome, relieving a pent-up breath.  
  
"Sorry, I was really worried." Inuyasha relaxed a little. For a while there was silence on   
  
the girls half of the bathhouse. Then there were small giggles. Though it went unnoticed   
  
for a while, it was now obvious that in his haste, Inuyasha had most certainly forgotten   
  
his towel. He however didn't notice this. What he did notice was that Kagome, in her   
  
haste, had forgotten her towel.  
  
"Eh-Eh…heh, whoa." Inuyasha managed to make these inconjugal sounds. At this time,   
  
Kagome blushed, noticing Inuyasha was naked, turning her head away. At the same time   
  
she ducked behind her bucket and tried the fact that she herself was naked. It was far too   
  
late for Inuyasha though, he had been reduced to a drooling teenager, and forgetting   
  
where he was, fell over to the boys side of the bath area.  
  
Kagome turned around to see all the women in the bathhouse looking at her. She blushed   
  
again and wished that she had a towel to make her seem less vulnerable. Finally, one of   
  
the girls spoke, the one named Rei.  
  
"Was he your boyfriend?" Kagome looked confused that they didn't seem to be angry at   
  
all. "Oh my GOD! You are so lucky! He is so cute and he looked so worried that you   
  
might have been hurt. Anyway, DAMN he was hot!!!" suddenly Kagome was surrounded   
  
by all the girls asking very personal and some very perverted questions.  
  
On the other side, Inuyasha was lucky to fall where he did, after all, it the concrete hadn't   
  
broken his fall, who knew what could have happened. Some of the men murmured that   
  
he was truly courageous to do what he did, but Inuyasha decided that he would just get   
  
out as soon as possible.  
  
Kagome walked out to the fountain and saw that Inuyasha was waiting there already. She   
  
stood for a while where he couldn't see her and took a few deep breaths. 'Okay, forget   
  
that ever happened, keep yourself in line, stay cool, think of something normal to say.'   
  
She walked the rest of the way to the fountain and noticed that Inuyasha didn't   
  
acknowledge her presence at all. He seemed to be staring off into space for no apparent   
  
reason.  
  
"So, the weather has been nice in here today, hasn't it?!" Kagome felt like hitting herself   
  
for saying that. 'Real smooth, Dumbass!'   
  
"Uh huh…" Inuyasha said looking at her like she had somehow turned into a mutant   
  
platypus. "Well, anyway, let's go, I'm sure the weather is just as nice outside and it   
  
is…in here." Inuyasha grabbed the briefcases and they walked out the door and back to   
  
the car.  
  
"You weren't waiting long were you?" Asked Kagome, finally pulling herself back.  
  
"No, I pretty much came out right after…yeah." Inuyasha seemed pretty confident until   
  
the very last part, then he got really quiet. "Well, what do you say we find a hotel?"  
  
"We still have some time until it gets dark, but if we check in early at a nice hotel, maybe   
  
we can have a nice dinner." Kagome smiled at that, considering they hadn't had much to   
  
eat since they started out and about. "Lets stay in a really nice hotel tonight. That way we   
  
can be sure to sleep in a room with two beds instead of one." Kagome flashed on of her   
  
award winning smiles and Inuyasha couldn't help but return it.  
  
Luckily for the two, there was a very fancy hotel that was nearby. They parked the car   
  
and entered the hotel, making sure they had all their clothes (though very few in number)   
  
and the two briefcases. Kagome walked up to the front desk and asked for a room with   
  
two twin sized beds.  
  
"How long are you expecting to stay, may I ask?" said the man at the counter.  
  
"Just one night." Said Inuyasha looking at the man in an annoyed fashion, knowing what   
  
would come next.  
  
"How will you be paying for this sir?" he said in a professional manner. Inuyasha simply   
  
opened the briefcase and handed him enough money to pay for two nights. The man was   
  
about to say that they usually never had people pay in cash, but Inuyasha got there first.  
  
"Keep the change." Said Inuyasha, knowing that money really was the answer to all his   
  
questions in life.  
  
The man smiled and said, "Very good sir, here are your keys." And with that, the two   
  
went up to their room and settled down. Inuyasha turned on the TV and settled down to   
  
drain some valuable brain cells while Kagome called for a reservation at the restaurant in   
  
the hotel.  
  
"Eight 'o clock will be quite fine, thank you." Kagome put the phone and relayed the   
  
message to Inuyasha. Kagome looked over at Inuyasha and noticed that after the   
  
bathhouse, Inuyasha still hadn't brushed his hair. "Inuyasha? Are you going to brush your   
  
hair?"   
  
"Probably not, why?" asked Inuyasha. In this case, Kagome knew that probably meant   
  
definitely.  
  
"Well, I don't think that they will let us into the restaurant if your hair isn't combed."   
  
Though Kagome said this, she had no proof of it at all. The fact was that ever since she   
  
had known him, she had wanted to see what his hair was like. It had a glossy sheen and it   
  
was perfectly thick. Though she didn't believe it, many would say the same about her   
  
hair.  
  
"I guess I'll comb it out for you." Kagome said with great confidence.  
  
"Nuh??" It was all that Inuyasha could get out before Kagome was behind him, running   
  
the comb delicately through his hair. If you have ever had someone delicately brush your   
  
hair, it has a nice, calming effect on you. As she ran the brush through his hair, Kagome   
  
took every opportunity to stroke it and smooth it. Though he was very stiff at first,   
  
Inuyasha found himself loosening up and relaxing to her touch, the TV becoming merely   
  
a back round noise.  
  
After she was sure that all the tangles were gone, running the brush through a few more   
  
times, she hesitantly put down the brush. "You should try to comb your hair more, it is   
  
really nice hair." Kagome said as she pulled away. There was no response. She crawled   
  
around on the bed until she was facing him and she realized that he had fallen asleep   
  
while she was combing his hair.  
  
His head was leaning down slightly and his usually tough exterior had faded away. The   
  
two shorter pieces of hair that fell over his ears were hanging over his face. Kagome   
  
looked at him for a while. 'Why didn't I ever seem to notice him at school? It's not like I   
  
never saw him, after all, he was Miroku's best friend.' Remembering other friends at   
  
school just brought forward that she may never see them again, or would she?  
  
How long did she expect to be away? It was then that she remembered why she had really   
  
left. That morning was almost a complete blur in her memory. One thing stood clear   
  
though…Her father getting dressed with a woman in his bed. She remembered Inuyasha   
  
saying something… "Mom?" yes that is what he had said. 'How could father have done   
  
that to mother?' tears of anger started to trickle down her face.  
  
Then another thought started, 'it was Inuyasha's mother? That bitch!' at that moment   
  
Kagome wanted anything to blame. She immediately looked at Inuyasha. She pulled her   
  
hand back to slap him, but he still slept serenely in front of her. Soon the tears of anger   
  
turned to tears of regret. 'It wasn't Inuyasha's fault. Maybe it was mine?' she lowered her   
  
hand and tried to hold back the sobs.  
  
At this moment Inuyasha woke up and blinked his eyes a few times to get back his full   
  
focus. He noticed that Kagome was in front of him instead of behind him now. 'Ugggh.   
  
How embarrassing, did I fall asleep?' Inuyasha thought. Then he noticed that Kagome   
  
wasn't in fact laughing, but crying. Kagome noticed that he had woken up and tried to   
  
turn away. "Kagome? Are you okay?" asked Inuyasha cautiously.  
  
"Y-yeah. I'm okay." Said Kagome with a sniffle, then pulling herself together, "We   
  
should get ready for dinner, they require you to dress really fancy." Inuyasha knew that   
  
Kagome was suppressing something, but he just nodded and headed for the bag of   
  
clothes. Kagome sat on the bed for a minute and wiped the tears off her face, then she   
  
hastily stood up and grabbed one of the bags and went into the bathroom.  
  
Inuyasha didn't think at first but then it hit him, "Hey, there's only one bathroom you   
  
know!" He sighed and started to change anyway. In the bathroom, Kagome was laughing   
  
so hard that she had to sit down on the floor for a minute, then took the dress out of the   
  
bag and started inspecting it for tags. Good thing that she had really prepared to wear this   
  
dress and had bought shoes and tights to go with it.  
  
Inuyasha had taken off everything except for his boxers when he realized that he hadn't   
  
even picked out what to wear. The first thing that he pulled out was the pair of leather   
  
pants Kagome had made him buy. He admitted that they weren't bad pants, just maybe   
  
they were a little too….leathery.   
  
After rummaging through the clothes a little more, he found a pair of black dress pants   
  
and a red Chinese style shirt. Kagome must have bought them when he wasn't around.   
  
He managed to get the shirt unbuttoned with great difficulty and the pants on thought he   
  
felt like he was going to church. It was a good thing that the Chinese shirt offset that look   
  
a little. As he was feverishly trying to get the buttons done back up, Kagome came out of   
  
the bathroom.  
  
Inuyasha's jaw dropped as he saw Kagome come out of the bathroom in a lightly sparkly   
  
red dress. The dress itself was very modest, except for the fact that it had thin spaghetti   
  
straps that went lightly over her white shoulders. There was also a slit that went about   
  
mid thigh, which isn't usually considered scandalous, except for the fact that her thigh   
  
high stocking had slipped down on that side showing the lacy flower pattern on top.  
  
Kagome didn't seem to notice him staring at her and instead asked, "Are you having   
  
troubles with the buttons?" All Inuyasha could do was stare blankly and nod at this,   
  
though he probably had no idea what she had said. Kagome came up to him pretty closely   
  
and started fiddling with the buttons with a little less difficulty then him, but not much.  
  
"I hate these kinds of shirts, well, they look nice and all but they are so hard to get on and   
  
off, you now?" Kagome paused a moment to smile up at him, which he returned, but she   
  
then started concentrating more on the buttons again. He planned to look down and see   
  
what she was doing differently from him with the buttons, but instead his eyes were   
  
directed strait to her chest, where he could fully see down her shirt. As soon as his head   
  
had looked down, it darted back up to find a friendly piece of ceiling.  
  
Kagome didn't seem to notice and as she did the last button, she rushed him to the door,   
  
afraid that they would miss their reservation. They were seated as soon as they arrived   
  
and they got a lovely table that overlooked a small lake.  
  
"I hear that they have a great amount of animals that stay here, maybe after dinner we   
  
could walk around the lake and see some of them." Said Kagome  
  
"Uh, yeah, sure." Said Inuyasha, finding it hard not to notice all the other people looking   
  
at their table, and mostly Kagome. He shot a few of them glares, but found it to be rather   
  
tiring to glare at everyone in the room without Kagome noticing. After dinner was done,   
  
Inuyasha realized that he had left all the money in the room, so he charged the meal to   
  
the room.  
  
The two of them left the restaurant and started around the lake. Kagome would stop to   
  
look at all the exotic birds that stayed in the courtyard. Inuyasha would never admit it,   
  
but he was really enjoying it too. Kagome had taken off the heals that she had on for   
  
dinner, saying that they were killing her feet. Inuyasha decided to be a gentleman for   
  
once and carried the shoes for her. He took another glance at them and realized that the   
  
heels on the shoes must have been at least four inches high.  
  
"How can you wear these?! This is insane!" said Inuyasha, scaring away a few birds in   
  
the process.  
  
"Well, they aren't exactly hiking shoes, you know, they are usually shoes that you wear   
  
down from the hotel room and sit at a table for the rest of the night. You know most of   
  
the time I just take them off under the table and hope no one trips over them." Said   
  
Kagome in amusement.  
  
They continues to walk and realized that it was coming near the end of the loop. In the   
  
pond there were two cranes in the water grooming each other. Kagome looked at them in   
  
a warm way for a while, then spoke, "Did you know that cranes mate for life? That is   
  
why they have them on traditional wedding kimono. I read this story that said when one   
  
of the cranes died, it's mate carried it's skull around with it under it's wing until it too   
  
died. Isn't that sad?" at the last statement Kagome really did sound sad, but she didn't   
  
look like she was going to cry much to Inuyasha's relief.  
  
Inuyasha decided that that question really needed no answer, and so they stood there   
  
watching the two birds until they flew away. They continues on into the hotel and to the   
  
elevator that would take them to their room. Just as Kagome was about to step onto the   
  
carpet, a man walked up and said to her in disgust, "You will have to put your shoes back   
  
on if you would like to enter the hotel.  
  
"Why? That is just a stupid rule you know?" said Inuyasha defiantly, refusing to hand   
  
Kagome's shoes back to her.  
  
"I'm sorry sir, but it is a rule." Said the man in disgust with Inuyasha's manner towards   
  
him.  
  
"Bite me." Said Inuyasha, turning around and swooping Kagome up into his arms bridal   
  
style and walked into the hotel and headed strait for the elevator. Though stunned at first,   
  
Kagome started giggling when they got inside the elevator alone.  
  
"Did you see the look on his face?! That was priceless!" they both continued to laugh   
  
until the elevator opened again on their floor. Inuyasha put Kagome down on the bed   
  
when they reached room again. Inuyasha fell down on the bed next to her and they   
  
continued to laugh for a while.   
  
When they had settled down after some time, Kagome asked something that had never   
  
occurred to her until just that moment, "Did we ever look in the other briefcase?"  
  
Inuyasha was silent for a moment, then responded, "No, I assumed that it was just more   
  
money like the first."  
  
"I have a weird feeling that it isn't like the other one. It was heavier didn't you think?"   
  
Asked Kagome.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right, I noticed that too. Let's open it right now." said Inuyasha,   
  
suddenly curious about the second briefcase. Inuyasha grabbed it from over in the corner   
  
and set it on the bed. They examined the outside of the case, but it looked just like the   
  
other one. Hesitantly, Inuyasha opened the latches and let the top pop open.   
  
The two of them gasped as they saw the top open. Inside there was a gun, a pack of   
  
bullets, and several packages that were marked by weight and filled with white powder.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mr. Higurashi was still sitting at his desk the next morning when Mr. Shi opened the   
  
door. He looked even more decrepit if it was at all possible. He had his head resting   
  
between his two hands and said nothing as Mr. Shi closed the door and sat down.  
  
"So, Mr. Higurashi, I've given you the time that I promised, now I want my answer."   
  
Said Mr. Shi in a rather cool manner, much more composed then the day before.  
  
Mr. Higurashi didn't even lift his head and he spoke very quietly, "Whatever it takes, get   
  
it all back." It was more of a mumble, but Mr. Shi understood and stood up, leaving the   
  
room.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Artemis: well, that's the chapter. It was longer than the rest of then I think, about 15   
  
pages on Microsoft word. Ugggh. That was harsh. I'm just sorry that it took so long,   
  
winter break kind of cut in and my family always goes away.  
  
Inuyasha: You are really stupid and unmotivated you know that? How can it take that   
  
many chapters just to introduce a plot?  
  
Artemis: *twitch* You're just mad you aren't getting any! Rrrrr!  
  
Inuyasha: *blush* *sulk*  
  
Kagome: *blush* you shouldn't say those things, what about your younger audiences!   
  
You should be ashamed.  
  
Artemis: Sorry. It's been a long day. I apologize for some of the random stuff in there. I   
  
was under the influence of night time. That stuff really makes me weird. If you can tell,   
  
the bath scene was almost right from Ranma book 6 and the 'whoa' was from Inuyasha   
  
book 5, oh, and the crane thing was from shirohime-syo by clamp. I don't own any of   
  
those either. Damn.  
  
Artemis: Anyway, I love reviews, hope to have the next chapter up soon. L8r 


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